The Serial Killer's Wife

The expectations that are built by the description of everything is wonderful. How they bought certain things together and how they had started making their house a home, how much their daughter loves seeing her dad just before she goes to sleep and this also build tension, which is also further elevated.

Elevated by how she doesn't know what is going on when the police arrive, thinks that maybe he died or got into some accident and is badly hurt.

She starts to wonder what is really going on when one of the police officers goes around to the back of the house as if scoping out any potential exit points or seeing if he already left, and then when her husband finally arrives home, much later than he should have, she feels relief. That is until they say that he might be able to help them with a murder enquiry.

Her want, burning desire, to have a happy little family that never ends up breaking up, is apparent, and something that she emphasises. About how it is not for herself, but for her child Poppy. She wasn't raised in a great home, her father leaving when she was young, and her mother falling to the bottle to try and cope with that loss. With all that in mind, we can understand why she wants to give Poppy the best childhood possible as it is something that she didn't have herself.

While doing this she has focused on her own family and her business, feeling like she was making a couple of friends. But after the first enquiry when they took Tom down to the station, they come again while she isn't home and that is when she realises that although she thought she was integrating well into the community, she doesn't well have any friends, anyone she can rely on while her life is starting to slow down.

This is when we start to get more insight into Tom as a person. We see his relationship with Katie, the person who he is suspected of murder, and we start to understand why Beth doesn't have any friends. It isn't because she doesn't want them, it is because Tom is abusive in a more subtle way. When in situations where you are the target of the abuse, you would be much more unwilling to say that it is abused if you weren't being physically, or verbally abused. There are other forms of abuse that people can experience, such as isolating you from your family and friends, slowly getting you to adhere to everything they want with no regard for what you want.

These are all more subtle things that a person in an abusive relationship might not realise is abuse at that moment, but only when looking back at it at a later date will realise just how bad everything was. Just how controlled their life was and just how much they has been isolated from everything they loved and cared about.

Throughout the whole time, Tom is in custody Beth starts to trust him less and less. Knowing that he had been keeping secrets from her, although she is still wondering what they could possibly be at that time. Her mind wants to believe that Tom hadn't done anything, but there is something inside her that recognises that with everything she is finding out, there is more to the story. It is also hinted that she knows more about the case than she is letting on when she is talking to Adam and he reassures her that if she can't change something she has to let it go. To which she responds, wondering what if she could change something. Although she doesn't elaborate any further and moves on with haste.

As you can probably tell by the title of the book, 'The Serial Killer's Wife' he hasn't just killed one or two people. This is something that is explored as they are trying to find evidence linking him to the murder of Katie. Also, during this time it is shown what it was that Beth knew that she understood could probably change the course of the case, and it is also understandable why she didn't tell what she knew. In her situation, it is hard to say that many people would choose to go in the opposite direction in which she went.

The attacks on Beth, whether it be spitting, saying that she must have known or worse, continue and keep ramping up. So much so that she no longer feels safe staying in her house anymore, which is something that should never happen to another victim. Especially since the public does not know everything that is going on. And neither do we.

As we enter the end of the story we finally see just how much Beth wanted a good life for her daughter. One with no drama, and one with a man who wasn't always capable of killing her if he got too angry. Not only did she go far, but she also went much beyond what a normal person would do. No normal person does what she does, and it really highlights how she is always going to make what she wants, what she gets.

She had always hated the fact that Tom was lying to her. She was horrified by the deaths, but it was only once it was revealed that he was keeping secrets from her that she was truly horrified. As if the action of lying to her was worse than Tom killing every person that he ended up killing.

From the outset, she was always going to turn Tom in. Once she learned what he had done, she was always set on turning him in. It was just her reasoning for turning him in that was the most surprising. When we found out the reason that she did give all the evidence that she did, it is a shocking reveal. It was heavily foreshadowed beforehand, but that doesn't mean that it happening is any less shocking.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It felt a bit flat in places, and not everything felt like it was needed, and some things felt like they were going too slowly. I thought that the reveal at the end was satisfying, but there was a lot more they could have done that would have made it a bit better. Such as making Beth a bit of a smarter and more calculating character, and really showing how everyone's lives ended properly. Rather than just hinting at some kind of sequel, or eventually reveal later on down the line. Making Beth a more calculating character also could have led to more scenes where she went back to visit Tom in prison (Don't worry, this won't make any sense if you haven't read the book yet).

I liked it, would recommend it.

7/10

book: The Serial Killer's Wife

author: Alice Hunter